Communication key at Winnacunnet

School Board special session on topic next month

HAMPTON — One of the first focuses of the new Winnacunnet School Board will be to fulfill one of the biggest recommendations for improvement that came out of the recently completed accreditation process.

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By Kyle Stucker

seacoastonline.com

By Kyle Stucker

Posted Mar. 20, 2014 at 2:00 AM

By Kyle Stucker

Posted Mar. 20, 2014 at 2:00 AM

» Social News

HAMPTON — One of the first focuses of the new Winnacunnet School Board will be to fulfill one of the biggest recommendations for improvement that came out of the recently completed accreditation process.

Winnacunnet High School and its various levels of administration and government were tasked by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges last year with developing ways to make the school, district, students and community more aligned and cohesive in terms of overall communication.

The board will meet with Principal Bill McGowan and Superintendent Bob Sullivan during a special session before its next meeting Thursday, April 10, to begin, as Chairman Chris Muns described it, "that initial conversation of just starting the dialogue" about how to improve communication across the board. That session will begin at 5 p.m., while the regular business meeting will commence at 6:30 p.m.

Winnacunnet has to get back to NEASC officials by October with a formal plan to address the communication issues — one of the "key challenges" within the NEASC recommendations, according to Muns — in addition to a plan to address facility issues pertaining to a lack of sufficient space for arts programs.

In addition to honoring a number of recent student achievements and awards, much of Wednesday's School Board meeting involved discussion about how the board, which through the annual elections last week gained two new members in Dave Gandt and Fran Henderson, will conduct itself while addressing meeting topics.

The approach to addressing those topics heavily involves how information and ideas are shared with the Winnacunnet community, and board members expressed a need Wednesday to have a mutual understanding of the district's approach on any given issue while ensuring that the individuals involved are heard.

"I think we owe it to everyone to be as clear as possible in the actions we're taking and the actions of others," said Muns, also stating that the board should rely more heavily on "specific motions" rather than a general consensus to avoid some of the "problems" that happened in the past.

"I think as board we have to be on the same page," he said. "We don't have to agree on everything, but at least then we're rowing in the same direction."